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April 2023 - Chemicals

More than 80% of chemical companies are placing as much focus on sustainability as on revenue growth: A survey of chemical companies has revealed that sustainability and ESG is becoming increasingly important across the sector, with 82% of companies who responded to the survey revealing they are expecting to make savings as a result of the sector's 'sustainability push'.

The survey by EY DigiChem polled leaders across the sector, also finding that 70% of respondents believe that digitisation and technology has the medium or strong potential to enable them to implement their sustainability goals 'faster' and 'better'.

Focusing on digitisation and how it has changed the sector, the survey revealed that 40% of chemical companies believe it has had a 'disruptive' or 'revolutionary' impact in the past three years following being accelerated by the global pandemic, with this figure expected to increase to 65% over the next three years (from 2022). Indeed, more than half the companies polled said they had been forced to accelerate their digitisation due to Covid-19. (56%).

Barriers to digitisation

Respondents were asked to share the barriers that could hold back digitisation, with four in 10 respondents saying the greatest challenge was having 'access to a robust technical infrastructure' (40%). Slightly fewer said investment requirements were a challenge (38%) followed by the need to develop secure systems (38%) and a lack of qualified workers for digitalisation (37%).

The survey revealed that challenges related to skilled workers was more acute in Europe, where 50% of chemical leaders reported concerns around the skills gap and qualified workers.

Looking again at differences between global markets, the survey found that high investment requirements are seen as the biggest challenge in North America when it comes to digitisation (46%), while security is the leading concern in Asia-Pacific (41%). In the Middle East and Africa, around half the respondents polled reported their greatest concern was 'technical infrastructure' found the research (49%).

Dr. Frank Jenner, EY Global Chemicals & Advanced Materials Industry Leader said: “Sustainability is at the forefront of thinking across many sectors, and chemicals is no different. We know from the EY CEO Outlook earlier this year that 80% of chemical leaders are placing as much importance on ESG and sustainability as on revenue growth. Digitization is going to be central to this sustainability effort, helping businesses to meet their ESG targets, while continuing to meet the needs of customers who are more sustainability conscious than ever.”

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